[squishy]

How did I know Kobe's return would ruin our team chemistry?

We were finally on a little run, winning 4 of 6, and when Kobe returns, we stink on both ends of the court.

Sure he will help us as these guys get more comfortable around him, but they need to stop standing around when Kobe has the ball.

Need off the ball movement! And better interior defense!!

Gotta admit though, sooo happy Kobe is finally back. Just need to win with him now...

[sensi09]

Only caught the 4th, but what do you expect from a guy who's been out for awhile and only been practicing a bit.

With that said, Kobe should have replaced maybe meeks and left xavier henry in there.

[grimlock]

Only saw the highlights but Kobe looks like 50yr old Michael Jordan! .. not looking good, if he puts any more pressure on it it looks like its going to pop again

[squishy]

^yeah, you can clearly see he lacks explosiveness.

On multiple occasions, he couldn't beat the defender 1-on-1, and that severely limited what he can do offensively.

That being said, it will take him time to get his shot back, but he will still be one of the premier shooters in this league once he returns to form.

Lakers need to slowly implement in him the system, not just throw him in there with the ball and several unfamiliar faces.

[MediaArtist]

Man I love all these guys who are counting out Kobe after one mediocre game after the guy has been out for 8 months.

"Kobe is bad for the team chemistry"
"Lakers will be worse off with Kobe"

[squishy]

^who's counting him out?

I'm just being critical.

Which is probably unsound on my part since the guy's been rehabbing the last 8 months and hasn't seen game action.

[MediaArtist]

I had to listen to all the radio DJ's giving their "expert" opinions on why Kobe now sucks and won't be the same while driving to Santa Monica today.

Look, Kobe admitted he felt like his timing was off, his jump shot motion wasn''t in sync, and overall he felt like he was readjusting the entire game.

He missed the all of the off season training (due to rehabbing), he missed the entire pre-season where most players tune their shooting mechanics, movement, etc, and he missed 1/4 of the regular season up to this point. This is an injury that has ended the careers of many players including Isiah Thomas, and Shaq.

Of course there are anomalies like Dominique Wilkins who actually came back and posted better numbers than the season he was injured.

Where Kobe will fall is still a mystery, but all the knee jerk criticism after one game is way premature.

[Litos]

the Lakers are not a better team when Kobe is out. fact.

the Lakers are still a borderline playoff team. fact.

[grimlock]

Originally Posted by squishy

^yeah, you can clearly see he lacks explosiveness.

On multiple occasions, he couldn't beat the defender 1-on-1, and that severely limited what he can do offensively.

That being said, it will take him time to get his shot back, but he will still be one of the premier shooters in this league once he returns to form.

Lakers need to slowly implement in him the system, not just throw him in there with the ball and several unfamiliar faces.

He just looks like he can't put any pressure on it, how's he going to play his game with half or 3/4 of his jump?
It's not golf.. even if he was 100% healthy he is still getting old.. how many times all star is he?
He's 35, probably had 2 more good seasons if he hadn't injured ..

[Litos]

for half of my life, i have watched Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan play basketball.....

all 3 of them are true Hall of Famers, without a shadow of a doubt...

just like in baseball - for half of my life, i have watched Derek Jeter, Alex Rodrigues and Big Pappy Ortiz play baseball.

hard to imagine a league with no Garnett, Kobe, Jeter or A-Rod.....

[squishy]

Originally Posted by grimlock

He just looks like he can't put any pressure on it, how's he going to play his game with half or 3/4 of his jump?
It's not golf.. even if he was 100% healthy he is still getting old.. how many times all star is he?
He's 35, probably had 2 more good seasons if he hadn't injured ..

It's still so early on in his return, so he's just getting comfortable with it.

I'm not a Doctor, but i'm pretty sure the more time be spends practicing his jumpshot, the more comfortable he will be to put pressure on it.

Maybe I'm just a bit anxious for Kobe to return to form, but I know the Western conference is soo damn difficult, if Lakers fall out of the race, there's no getting back in.

And it will be the same thing next year, and the next...

[grimlock]

Originally Posted by squishy

It's still so early on in his return, so he's just getting comfortable with it.

I'm not a Doctor, but i'm pretty sure the more time be spends practicing his jumpshot, the more comfortable he will be to put pressure on it.

Maybe I'm just a bit anxious for Kobe to return to form, but I know the Western conference is soo damn difficult, if Lakers fall out of the race, there's no getting back in.

And it will be the same thing next year, and the next...

Let's see how this Kobe story winds out.. i expect nothing from them, but I wonder if he will reinjure again or it's fine and he's just not as or good
OR, the KOBians are right and he will play like old (yeah like that's going to happen)

[mookie45]

Let's go HEAT! Good game tonight against the Pacers!

[JohnSprm69]

yeesss i can't wait till tonight's game heat vs pacers…..

wade might be out

lets goo heat!!!!

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by mookie45

Let's go HEAT! Good game tonight against the Pacers!

Originally Posted by JohnSprm69

yeesss i can't wait till tonight's game heat vs pacers…..

wade might be out

lets goo heat!!!!

Pacers win.

I think the Pacers could have won by a greater margin but they carelessly turned the ball over at least 21 times.

[Inspired]

Why didn't Heat play Oden or Beasly? Saving them as secret weapons for the playoffs? It's almost given that these 2 teams will battle it out in the ECF

[Dustz]

Kobe dunkin tonight jajaja

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by Inspired

Why didn't Heat play Oden or Beasly? Saving them as secret weapons for the playoffs? It's almost given that these 2 teams will battle it out in the ECF

I can't wait until Granger returns for the Pacers.

It's mind-boggling that we'll have a former All-Star player coming off the bench. Will give the Pacers even more depth.

[squishy]

I swear it sounded like Roy Hibbert was calling that game on NBATV. Hahaa

Caught the fourth quarter of the Pacers-Heat game, just in time for LeBron's airball three pointer.

Lol, jk, my Lakers lost again, so guess I can't really talk...

Too bad Herky Jerky didn't try some dumbass shot, he's always fun/painful to watch

[MediaArtist]

Originally Posted by Dustz

Kobe dunkin tonight jajaja

Also high scorer for the LakeShow tonight.

[JohnSprm69]

Originally Posted by ybbiz34

Pacers win.

I think the Pacers could have won by a greater margin but they carelessly turned the ball over at least 21 times.

it's all good, hats off to the pacers for pulling the win out, Miami is infamous for having problems with teams like the pacers, bulls, knicks during the regular season but they all get dealt with in the playoffs + lebron had an off day with only 17pts and some careless turnovers.

all that said i would have liked miami to win

[Litos]

the Pacers and Heat will sleepwalk through the entire season, rest their starters, keep minutes down, play safe basketball and then get TURNT UP sometime in May HAHA !!!!

Heat vs Pacers in the ECF....

Rockets don't play until Thursday, but they have two pretty tough back to back road games...

Thursday against Portland and Friday against the Warriors.....